Gadget-lovers Future Paradise

How do you like the future so far? Trek to the MOMA and see how much further you can go with personal gadgets. They can make your environment perfect for you and keep it perfect for the person next to you (those backseat fights are a thing of the past). You can create energy by walking, remove impurities from the air naturally, and cool insulin anywhere. Are you a lonely guy? Get a virtual companion to steal the sheets, rub their cold feet against yours and throw plates. I'm telling you, whatever you want, it's there.

(The site has a funky interface so Mac people go with Firefox.)

What color is your idea?

Here's mine—inspired, of course, by my favorite place. Pick yours and post the link. Dreaming in color not required ... or maybe it is.

just say "go"

For nearly seven years now I've been thinking about jettisoning the ordinary life for something fully creative. I have been living a sort of half artistic life (whatever that is – just remember to take away the myth) all this time or rather all my life. I've been let go from my place of employment with a decent package of benefits like free use of an outplacement agency and wad of cash. The proper phrase is "my position was impacted by corporate restructuring."

It's like they said "Go!" You know, that thing you say after "Ready, Set, ..." (or "On your mark, get set, ..."). I'm doing all that stuff now: thinking freely, investigating options, and seriously moving forward. I'm finding places that will pay me to write and others that will pay me to design. I'm fixing up my novels for publication. I'm building my dream life. All it took was someone to just say "Go!"

Song of the Day: Hold on to This Coat, The Rosebuds

flibberty gibbet

Current Fads
Listening. Bad Business Robert B. Parker and sunday morning (iTunes playlist); sussurations of little heaters
Watching. the inside of my head
Activity. writing the first draft (rough sketch) of a novel
Gadget. Palm Zire 31
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. Das Leben ist herzzerreißend: Vierundreißig Erzählungen - Ursula Köhler (edited by); Waiting for You - Elaine Greywalker; The Seed Catalog 2008 - Thompson & Morgan; Mensa Bulletin; Script (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—even though I'm writing a novel)

snakely

be a part of the art

Anyone can participate. I'm especially drawn by assignment #63 make an encouraging banner and #52 write the phone call you wish you could have. Twice I've decided I'll stop in at CVS to pick up some construction paper (for #63) and have not done it. Third time's the charm, right? I'm also writing #52 in my head. It's a bit embarassing but I like it.

Current Fads
Listening. Echo Echo, Carbon Leaf and When Things Fall Apart Pema Chodron; crickets
Watching. Death in Paradise (2006)
Activity. not editing my novel and relaxing
Gadget. iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. Stone Cold - Robert B. Parker; A Wish Can Change Your LIfe - Gahl Sasson and Steve Weinstein; The Schwarzbein Principle: II - Diana Schwarzbein; Mediaweek; Mensa Bulletin (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)

The Unplanned Eye photo blog

I've started another blog. Yep. That makes five. Well, six if you count being listed as a co-author on another blog. So, the new blog is a photo moblog. I played around with the idea of getting a for real web browsing account for my phone. Turned out that just sending emails is cheaper. I am not an IM/Texting/always-online kind of fool.

Anyway. Check it out. The photo blog came out of walking to work every day and noticing that some things just jump out at me as I'm walking along totally bored.

... I can't believe I haven't posted in over a week! I've been dancing lightly on the earth.

beauty or something like it

I'm listening/watching Leonard Bernstein deliver a lecture about "The Poetry of the Earth" in 1992. I picked it up at the library (VHS tape!) to learn something about poetry. And I have. I've also learned something about music and trends across artistic endeavors.

Bernstein breaks down and analyzes the combinations of phrases that make up a composition. Finally, after about 45 minutes, he talked about poetry in relation to music which actually was quite enlightening but also raised my hackles against formula. By breaking down how music and poetry are put together, he constructs a formula for what is appealing or beautiful.

It's okay that formulas are found and used. It's not okay when the formulas become standards—when only creative works that fit the formula are right, okay, acceptable or beautiful. It's interesting to discover how my experience of beauty breaks down and knowing that might even help me find other beautiful things to enjoy. That knowledge also tends to make a box that I then, somehow, feel compelled to live in.

I now recognize that sometimes I search for understanding so that I can have a short cut to creativity. I take the short cut at the risk of losing my own sense of beauty and limiting my creative flow. There is no easy way to manifest art. There's no one right way. Creating is an experience. Experiencing beauty is a subjective act—not something someone can tell you how to do. Nor can someone else tell you what is beautiful.

Beauty, like Truth, may not exist or, if it does, has a purpose that has nothing to do with yardsticks.

Permanent Shoes

Here's a new concept in shoery: one inny many outies. They are called skins. My favorite is Hailey (the last women's shoe in the slide show) althought Aimee is nice, too. Unfortunately someone thought that women would like all their shoes in black. Who did that market research? The shoes all come in other colors, of course, but they all come in black! Funerals, anyone?

Aside from that, it is an interesting concept and just might work. Imagine never having to break in another pair of shoes and always knowing your size. I like the notion of being able to order online and know that when they get here my shoes will fit and be comfortable right away. The trick will be in getting the right "bone", or inner structure of the shoe. I'm sure that will involve a custom fit. Fortunately Richmond is one the map. Yay Richmond!

You can find out more at the link above and here where you can also order your bone (if you feel like taking the risk).

Something Completely Different
Thanks to my daughter, Kathleen, for leaving her old computer here and the nice 17" LCD display. My display is dying so I'm using hers. For an "old" display it's pretty good and much better my 1998 model. And thanks to Apple for making the G4 compatible with any old display I jam on it. That's real plug and play. Not that fake stuff whosname is pandering.

My Mood Cafe

these are not my colors, this is not me, this is not my life

my dear frankenstein, how can you feel so alone as millions stare at you?

Current Fads
Listening to: Dilbert, the beautiful girl who's wish was not fullfilled

Half-Price Sale at Perceval Press!

If you've ever wanted a piece of Viggo or other artists that he thinks are cool, now is the time to buy. Get fine art for as low as $3.50 (Just Another War, Exene Cervenka "soft cover")! Such a deal! There were free t-shirts but they are gone now. Sale ends June 17th!

for Violet

experiment

I'm experimenting with ArtRage a free painting program that sells for about $20 if you want the full version. It's very easy to use and makes, as you can see, images that look like paintings. It doesn't have filters (effects) and won't let me blur or smudge or blend unless I add color with a tool at the same time. But it is free (and cheap) and really easy so anyone wishing to try their hand, can. I don't have a drawing tablet at home so I can't quite do what I am able to do at work, but it's good enough for now.

Current Fads
Listening. four different radio stations (including WBAR.org and NPR); the winds of the summer sun
Watching. The Lord of the Rings (2002-2004)
Activity. staying awake
Gadget. iPod Shuffle (2nd Gen)
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson; The Erotic Spirit - Edited by Sam Hamill; GD USA; Graphic Arts Monthly; Fortune (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)

green evening

My head protects my heart but not my eyes.

515

It is only hidden to those who do not already know.

a portrait of clouds

Things have come into my life that I thought were permanent.

you don't know me

you just think you do
and how could you?
i barely know myself
and I feel very good about that

I've got it all wrong

Apparently I need to be doing things like this to get attention. Gee. I may not be a real artist. Okay. That was not nice. I don't care. It's a bummer day. Well, not really. It's a vague day I think, maybe, it could be. Cold. Rainy. Would like to do some garden/yard work but it's a much better idea to stay inside. I'm having NaNoWriMo withdrawals. Also wierd as that has been over for months now. Guess I'll go to fall back and hang over to Barnes & Noble or find some other time waster and then spend some time making an executive decision about what movie to watch tonight. :::sigh::: I am not motivated to do anything except dither around here. Life. Can't live with it, can't live without it.

Message to Karl Lagerfeld

I just watched the "Fendi Spring|Summer" episode of MOD TV. In this podcast, Karl is recorded saying, "If you show dresses on big girl, woman[sic] who see it say 'Oh, that's not for me. I'm not that big'" Here's a news flash, Karl. 75% of the population has normal-sized bodies, probably what you call "big" since you seem to think that size 0 is normal. And 75% of the women are looking at those teenage, size 0 models and thinking, "Oh, that's not for me. I'm not a toothpick." Let's remember now, that of the 25% remaining, half that number will be at the extremely big end of the scale and the rest at the pretty-close-to-starving end of the scale. This means that Karl has an outside chance of selling his clothes to less than 12.5% of the population because some of them (believe it or not) will still not wear his clothes because they cost too much or are not for them no matter how skinny the models are (Karl says they aren't too small, it's just their bones).

I love beautiful art as much as the next person, probably more. Karl's collection is a lovely work of art but as actual clothing that a real person can wear it leaves a lot to be desired. My challenge to you, Karl, is to create something that makes the other 75% of us look beautiful. Can't do it, can you? Is anyone up for the challenge?

open source history

I am stunned and awed by the Columbia University (interactive digital) Scriptorium. Often a fancy name will cover a bunch of junk, but this site is totally amazing. Here are high resolution images of ancient manuscripts that once were hidden away in dark vaults never to be seen by ordinary people. The originals are so delicate that they spend their time in climate controlled rooms in sealed boxes. Only curators and serious researchers are allowed to see them. Hardly anyone gets to touch them. A great waste of a resource. But now, through the magic of the internet, anyone can see these items up close. Maybe I'm easy to amaze but I get chills getting up close to medieval pages (even if they are just images).

Here's another great site for ancient manuscripts: Heidelberg University Library (in German).

If you like free learning, then try the Columbia University interactive tools (where I found the Scriptorium). Take a virtual tour of the Alhambra or New York Church of St. John the Divine. There are tons of other fabulous learning experiences that once used to cost too much money all for free. And with no registration or other tracking crap. Play on!

answers to v.m. - 102306

v.m. has posted some questions at Perceval Press, which I have the audacity to answer here.

Q: Do we have a relationship to anything that we do not immediately perceive?
A: Yes. We have creative imagination and memory to construct and reconstruct things. We also have relationships to things we do not perceive. This is unawareness.

Q: And in that moment of perception, do we remain ourselves, or do we, rather, become the connection itself, purely the vantage point we have in a given instant?
A: Both. Quantum mechanics teaches us that we change the thing we perceive. Surely the thing perceived changes us as well. The universe is a dialogue, not a static mirror. A connection entails at least two vantage points and the flow of the common perception(s) between them. We are the connection and the vantage point. How can we separate this? Should we? We are not only what we see, we are also all the things we have ever seen and what we were before we began seeing, which can be transformed by the seeing. We are also everything we have ever experienced and what we were before we began experiencing. Perception flows. Can we also be everything we have the potential to see and experience?

Q: Maybe the why, where, or when of things is irrelevant; only the what matters. Can we forget difference or desire that separates us and leaves us longing or repelled?
A: Perhaps, but if we forget that which separates us then we also forget that which connects us. If we forget our differences and desires we forget who we are. To what purpose? Being who we are is all there is. Longing or repulsion are not bad of themselves. It is what we transform them into and how we judge them that makes the snare.

Other solutions? Let me know.

Time well spent

Here's a great site that's definitely like nothing you've ever seen before, at least on the web. You may need to wait a few seconds for things to totally load but check it out! Have fun!

and in other news

I've been messing around with Daz 3-D software. I have bought my fair share of extras, including eyes. Yes. Eyes! Here's a sample of artwork made with Daz.

Things to Note: See how the woman, Victoria, is all beautified? She has great luminescent skin and sparkly eyes. The man, Michael, on the other hand has pasty skin and comes with eyes you wouldn't put in an action figure. So I had to buy him eyes and clothes. Maybe you'll notice there are no shoes on his feet, Victoria's costumes come with shoes, Michael's don't. Why is that? I've tweaked Michael's skin, including making a custom skin bump map, and he still looks pasty. And the eyes don't sparkle even though I paid for them. Well, they sparkle in some lights. (Click on the image to zoom in.)

I also bought special morphs for Michael so he can be something besides an extreme male model. However, the morphs mostly make him freaky or old so I'm messing around with those. Victoria is also very Barbie but you can change her a lot more and make her frumpy quite easily.

Daz offers lots of skimpy and exciting clothes for Victoria. Not much for Michael. Hair is pretty hard to get, too. That's why my Michael's hair looks so weird. I did buy what I thought was hair but it turned out to be hair options. I still need to buy the hair. :::sigh:::::